Track and field athlete Carl Lewis was born on July 1, 1961, in Birmingham, Alabama. He qualified for the Olympics in 1980, but did not participate because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games. He did go on to compete in four Olympic Games—1984 in Los Angeles, 1988 in Seoul, 1992 in Barcelona and 1996 in Atlanta. He won numerous gold and silver medals before his retirement in 1997.

Early Years

One of the most successful Olympic athletes of all time, Frederick Carlton Lewis was born July 1, 1961, in Birmingham, Alabama. Raised in Willingboro, New Jersey, Carl and his three siblings enjoyed a middle-class upbringing, one in which their parents, Bill and Evelyn Lewis, exposed them to a variety of arts and sports. With his mother, Lewis attended plays and musicals, and took classes in cello, piano and dance.

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